Mind the gap… in ROW memorandum

They say nothing happens overnight and it’s no different for Restricted Building Work (RBW) – one year on, licensed building practitioners (LBPs) still have plenty of questions surrounding the subtleties in RBW procedure and regulation.

Around 300 builders crowded the Working Men’s Club in Petone for PlaceMakers’ fourth round of skills maintenance seminars on RBW and the importance of Records of Work (ROW) memorandums.

Alongside presenter and industry expert Paul Alsford, building control managers Leonie Gibb (Hutt City Council), John Hudson (Upper Hutt City Council) and Chris Scott (Wellington City Council) fielded a number of questions on the RBW process and the repercussions of not providing a memorandum.

“We’re not policing the guys on site, we’re just there at the end to collect the memorandum,” said John. “The LBP system runs parallel to the consenting system and we’re at the end of that ensuring there are no gaps in the paperwork.”

Chris explained that gaps – portions of the build not signed off as completed or supervised by an LBP – will remain as marks against the property, which could be grounds for the homeowner to file a civil case against the project manager if it affects the sale of the house.

“To avoid this, it’s important to have everyone – builders and sub-contractors – lined up for each portion of the build before it begins and to be clear with the owner about what their responsibilities are,” said Leonie.

“If the owners are handling the project management then they need to have sub-contractors sign off their work – you don’t want them handing you the roofing memorandum and saying ‘the roofer said you’d sign this’.”

Ludlow Builders director Brian Ludlow, who has been builder for more than 40 years, says he is confident with the RBW process but feels attending a seminar where others might ask questions he hadn’t thought of is a great refresher.

“It’s a great reminder about how important it is to plot your building plan beforehand and make sure you’ve got the right LBPs on board and that the plumbing and electrical subbies are certified or registered,” he said. “There’s a lot more to to this business than just building; these seminars reinforce that.”

Leonie said she was glad for the opportunity to attend the seminar and encouraged builders to contact their local council with any questions.

“We’re here to assist. We’d prefer to answer questions rather than see guys get themselves in a difficult situation.”

Paul’s reminder

Pre-planning is the key to managing Restricted Building Work. Be clear about what work you are contracted to do and what work, if any, you are contracted to supervise or collect RoW for. If this clear in the contract, there should be no assumptions or surprises.